Nearly One in Six Children on Weight-Loss Drugs Develop Nutritional Deficiency, Study Finds

Nearly one in six children prescribed weight-loss drugs develop a nutritional deficiency within a year of starting treatment, according to a new study published in the journal Childhood Obesity.

Researchers at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago analysed insurance claims from 2,031 children aged 10 to 17 who began GLP-1 medications such as liraglutide, dulaglutide and semaglutide — drugs also sold under brand names like Saxenda and Ozempic — for obesity, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Within one year, 16.8% were diagnosed with a nutritional deficiency, according to News-Medical. Vitamin D deficiency was by far the most common, affecting 12.4% of the children, while nutritional anaemia affected 1.55%.

Senior author Dr Justin Ryder said adolescence is a period of rapid growth and pubertal development, making nutrients such as vitamin D, iron and calcium especially critical — and warning that deficiencies during these years can have lasting effects on skeletal health and development.

The researchers also found that nutritional support was rare: only 5% of patients received nutritional counselling within 30 days of starting a GLP-1 drug, and fewer than 25% received it within six months, according to HealthDay. The team urged doctors to build proactive nutritional management into paediatric GLP-1 treatment from day one rather than waiting for deficiencies to appear.

Sources:
– News-Medical: https://Www.news-medical.net/news/20260924/GLP-1s-linked-to-nutritional-deficiencies-in-children.aspx
– HealthDay via Drugs.com: https://www.drugs.com/news/weight-loss-meds-lead-nutritional-deficits-many-kids-teens-study-finds-131432.html
– The Pharmaceutical Journal: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/children-taking-glp-1s-can-be-at-risk-of-nutritional-deficiencies-study-finds